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Attributes of a Great Assistant

What Administrators Value in Their Assistants

What
makes a great administrative assistant? Is it outstanding organizational
skills? Is it judgment and strength as a gatekeeper? Is it a knack for
anticipating and solving problems?

It’s
not all about making coffee, typing
letters, answering phones, or ordering lunch and office supplies.

I
did a survey and asked some administrators and pastors what their assistants
did that was the most helpful to them. I enjoyed reading their responses and
thought you might enjoy them as well:

My assistant has an encouraging and cheerful spirit.

My assistant has a servant’s heart to take care of even
little requests with a dependable and positive spirit.

My assistant anticipates what needs to be done.

The most helpful thing is the management of my schedule. While the outside speaking
schedule is a major task (returning phone calls, e-mails, getting the itinerary
for the week, making plane reservations, etc.), the other area I refer to is the
day to day management of my office time.

I am in the classroom on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6:30 am until 1:00 pm
and on Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 am until 2:30 pm. This means that a lot
of people are coming by, calling, and e-mailing while I am out of the office. My
assistant treats all of them as important and makes sure that no one feels like
I am never available. She then manages to fit them into the tight window of the
afternoons or in and around any evening activities. I know that she gets very
frustrated at times with the volume of it all, but that never shows when she is
dealing with people. To me that is very valuable and important.

She gives attention to detail. She
is conscientious.

She reminds me.

After one of these pastors had
responded to me, he emailed me “more” a few days later: The most important
thing my assistant does for me changes—it’s whatever I need her to do “right
now,” so it’s hard to nail down a specific task or function, since the urgent
changes so quickly. That’s why I put keeping a great spirit as number one. That
matters all the time, and greatly impacts how she responds when “what’s
important” changes.

A good
administrative assistant:

Is organized

Is attentive to details

Multitasks

Wears many hats

Follows through on tracking, organizing events,
projects, and appointments

Follows through quickly and efficiently with all
tasks

Knows when to keep her mouth closed and when not
to

Is a good speller

Has good grammar skills

Knows how to interpret the boss’s handwriting

Ask yourself: “If
you don’t have time to do it right,
when do you have time to do it again?”

In closing:

Don’t let your skills and abilities get too
outdated. (I have a friend who went to Best Buy and took a class on how to
fully utilize her computer.) The tools are available, so don’t get stagnant or
complacent.

Keep growing

Keep learning

We should ask ourselves:

Have I grown this past year?

If you were late to work last year, are you on
time this year?

Am I more humble than I was one year ago?

Am I closer to the Lord than I was last year?

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